Robotic FX, Inc. earned a $280M contract to deliver its Negotiator robots to the United States Army.
According to the presolicitation notice,
“The resulting contract will be a five year Firm-Fixed price IDIQ contract with Delivery Order 0001 consisting of the initial requirement of (101) robotic systems, new equipment training and (10) spare parts kits.”
The competitors for this contract were required to produce robots that weighed less than 50 lbs and meet a long list of other requirements. The unclassified Requirement Compliance Matrix listed the following checklist:
- System Characteristics
- Platform Weight
- OCU Weight
- Arm Degrees of Freedom
- Manipulator Arm Wrist Rotation
- Lift Capacity
- Gripper Video
- Vehicle Inspection
- Under Vehicle Inspection
- Data Link
- Frequency Specifications
- Frequency Specifications
- ITU, NTIA, FCC compliance
- Batteries
- OCU Video
- Situational Awareness
- Color Daylight Camera
- Low-Light Detection
- Video Output Interface
- 180° Robot Situational Awareness
- Frame Rate
- Auto Focus
- Auto Iris
- Modularity
- External Payload Support
- Mechanical Interface
- Materials
- Corrosion Resistance
- Environmental Conditions
- Temperature
- Water Resistance
- Sand Penetration Resistance
- Range
- LOS
- NLOS
- Maneuverability
- Obstacle Traverse
- Speed
- Snow Mobility
- Sand Mobility
- Tall Grass Mobility
- Standing Water Mobility
- Small Gravel
- Large Gravel
- Maintainability
- No Special Tools
- Transportability
- Land, Sea, & Air
- Training Devices
- Computer Based Operator Training
- Computer Based Maintainer Training
The competitors were required to demonstrate the aforementioned while running a course. A map of the course is shown here:
Two of the most impressive facets of Negotiator were its dexterity and its ease of use. On the Robotics FX website, I observed Negotiator grab and unzip the zipper of a notebook computer carrying bag. Another video shows the robot flipping open a typical toolbox latch. Clearly, the person at the controls was proficient with the joystick but that didn’t take away from the fine control he had of the actuators.
At the core of Negotiator’s ease of use is its joystick. It appears as a stumpy version of Negotiator’s arm. As the user moves one of the joystick controller’s segments, the corresponding segment of the robot’s arm moves. The site claims that no special training is required, “just practice.” I believe it.
Other competitors were Exponent’s MARCBot:
And iRobot’s PackBot (shown here is the 510 model):
References:
- Federal Business Opportunities Solicitation # W900KK-07-B-0001, Synopsis
- Images and Requirement Compliance Matrix were found at the Naval Air Warfare Center
- Defense Review, “Negotiator Tactical Surveillance Robot: Sneak n’ Peek the Bad Guys” by David Crane
- Defense News, “U.S. Wants 3000 New Robots for War” by Kris Osborn
The PackBot shown in this article is 68lbs fully loaded. That and all the other PackBot platforms with the EOD kit are at least 68 lbs so NONE OF THEM could have been used by iRobot. So what did they use then?